The Journey: A Youth Camp to Remember

What we experienced at Youth Camp in 2012 left us all speechless and in awe of God's love and grace!  In the Spring of 2012, the church where Elyssa and I attended, the same church in which she had grown up her whole life, was starting to think about youth camp for the summer.  For the past 20 years the church had planned and organized it's own camp each summer, but as the previous amazing leaders stepped down or were called to serve elsewhere, the youth ministry needed new leadership to make it happen.

Bryan Freeman boldly volunteered to take on the responsibility of organizing and directing the plans for Youth Camp.  After weeks and weeks of planning, the time had finally arrived.  On July 22, the Sunday morning before we left, we had almost 70 teens signed-up to go, but when we left the next day, only 55 actually showed up to go.  We weren't sure why, but we took the 55, knowing God had brought the ones He wanted.

On that same Sunday night of July 22, I noticed before church that evening four boys from the neighborhood riding their skateboards on the church sidewalk.  I asked them if they wanted something to drink, then invited them to our Sunday Night Live event with the teens.  They returned at 6:00pm and joined us for worship and the lesson.  The focus of that evening's discussion was youth camp and how to make the most of this week.  The four boys got up and left in the middle of the lesson, but came back later asking about youth camp, what to bring, and how to sign-up.  Three of the boys - Greg, Darius, and Kyle - ended up going with us to camp!

What we experienced at Youth Camp in 2012 left us all speechless and in awe of God's love and grace!  The theme for camp was "The Journey" and all the lessons included counselor testimonies and Bible discussions about a relationship with Jesus and sharing with others your new life in Christ.  Day after day as people shared their testimony of how God changed their life, we saw more and more students put their trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior!

I stayed in the high school boys' cabin and watched God transform their hearts with His love.  These young men loved and accepted each other like never before!  They opened up, were real with each other, and willingly led by example, by a Godly example. 

By the end of camp, 24 students and 2 counselors had surrendered their hearts and lives to Jesus!  Six to eight more felt convicted and recommitted their lives to following Jesus.  God's love and presence fell on that camp like never before!

On the Sunday night after camp (July 29), we asked the students to share their cardboard testimonies and share with the church how God changed their lives that week.  The service was powerful, and ran an hour over because student after student continued to share what God had done in their life.  By the end of the night, 2 more students put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ!

Thank you Lord for your love and goodness!  Thank you for blessing us with Your Presence!  Thank you for teaching these kids how to love each other!  We give you, Lord Jesus, all the glory and praise!

2012 Youth Camp TEAM BIBLE STUDY